1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for associating time slots with a transmission path in a wireless interconnected network consisting of a plurality of network nodes and to a method for transmission of data using the method for associating the time slots. The invention also relates to a network management unit and to a wireless interconnected network.
2. Description of the Related Art
Wireless interconnected networks, which are also frequently referred to as mesh networks, are based on the principle of data being transferred over a plurality of communicating network nodes with wireless communication functionality from one network node to another via hops (i.e., forwarding through other nodes). These networks are structured so that a number of other network nodes to which data can be sent lie within range of a network node. Data transmission in such a network between a source node and a destination node is described by a transmission path consisting of corresponding wireless links between neighboring network nodes. What are referred to as scheduling methods, with which the links of a transmission path are allocated time slots, are used to guarantee collision-free transmission along such a transmission path. Within a time slot, data can only be transmitted in a corresponding radio channel on that link to which the time slot is allocated.
Conventional scheduling methods are optimized for the most reliable possible data transmission along a transmission path, without taking account, however, of further criteria and especially of the possibility of low energy consumption of the individual network nodes during data transmission. Such energy-efficient data transmission is of great importance, however, for specific types of mesh network, which frequently comprise sensor networks with autonomous energy supply.